Calgary Stampeders eye elusive 15-win season

Nik Lewis grabs a few passes from teammates before giving a speech to help his Calgary Stampeders focus on the task at hand -- winning a 15th game to give them momentum for a Grey Cup run. Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Calgary Sun

The Baltimore Stallions won the Grey Cup, beating the Stampeders in, of all places, Regina, the site of this year’s festivities.

Dave Dickenson was still quarterbacking the Montana Grizzlies.

That was also the last time the Stamps won 15 games in a single CFL season.

Heading into the regular-season finale against the B.C. Lions on Friday (8 p.m., TSN, News Talk 770), the Stamps (14-3) are hoping to add to a season of record-breaking individual accomplishments and do something this franchise hasn’t been able to do in 18 years.

“True story — me and (Juwan Simpson) were sitting in the steam-room just chatting it up back in training camp, and we kind of gave our little prediction on what we saw for this team, and Simp said it: He was like, ‘I don’t see us losing no more than three games this year,’ ” Stamps wideout Mo Price said Wednesday, following the team’s final practice session of the week at McMahon Stadium. “That was way back in June — and here we are with a chance to do that.”

Since taking over in 2008, Stamps GM/head coach John Hufnagel has won 13 games on two different occasions and has never failed to win 10 games in any of his six seasons at the helm.

He’d like to get No. 15, but he’s not going to over-exert his team to do it.

“Fifteen wins would be nice, but it’s not the most important thing about this season,” Hufnagel said. “It’s a credit to the players that they’ve gotten themselves ready to play, but right now, we have 14, and we’re going to work hard to try to get 15.”

But perhaps Dickenson puts it best when he says, in the grand scheme of things, now that the Stamps have wrapped up the West Division, the win total doesn’t mean much.

The 1995 season finished off a string of three straight seasons with 15 wins, but not one of those campaigns ended with a Grey Cup parade at the end.

“I won 14, so I would like to win 15,” Dickenson said. “It’s not going to guarantee anything, but it’s always nice to put a good number up on the board.”

It’s more about keeping the momentum going.

“Nik (Lewis) kind of gave a speech to the receivers at the end of practice and (said), ‘We believe we’re a championship team, and we’re going to have a championship mindset at all times’ — and that means winning every game,” Price said.

The Baltimore Stallions won the Grey Cup, beating the Stampeders in, of all places, Regina, the site of this year’s festivities.

Dave Dickenson was still quarterbacking the Montana Grizzlies.

That was also the last time the Stamps won 15 games in a single CFL season.

Heading into the regular-season finale against the B.C. Lions on Friday (8 p.m., TSN, News Talk 770), the Stamps (14-3) are hoping to add to a season of record-breaking individual accomplishments and do something this franchise hasn’t been able to do in 18 years.